If I was asked this question last season, I would reply: getting back Kariya, one of the best players in the NHL, and Johnson, a 1st overall draft pick, back from injury. Now that I know that's not the case, there must be something else.

A new coach maybe?

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Losing Johnson to something (who seems to be out of position constantly, never set to shoot the puck, wants to get tip ins like Pronger used to do, and is a lot slower than I remember) to something like swine flu or an STD for a few weeks

goon attack wrote:if they actually played like they cared, they could bond as a team and become a juggernaut. But they're pussies, so I won't expect that anytime soon.

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If I was asked this question last season, I would reply: getting back Kariya, one of the best players in the NHL, and Johnson, a 1st overall draft pick, back from injury. Now that I know that's not the case, there must be something else.

1) A new coachFans tolerate Murray when we're winning...and I'm one of them...but his act wears thin real quick when the team is struggling. The crap he pulls with benching young players for a sub-par game, but giving a free pass to veterans like Brewer, Tkachuk, etc...doesn't make sense. Petro needs to play, period. The defense isn't good enough for Murray to be putting a young and talented player in the press box 90% of the time just because he is young.And I absolutely can't stand how we have completely different line combos every single night. How are guys supposed to get in any kind of rhythm when they have different line mates every other shift?Who should we get to replace Murray? Pat Burns...Wayne Gretzky...Ron Francis?How about Burns as head coach and Gretzky and Francis as assistant coaches? Ohhhh.....

2) A "top 10 in the league" scoring threatWe have a lot of good young players who will put up good offensive numbers, but we don't have that potent offensive player night in and night out. Boyes is as close as we have, and he's way too streaky to be a top 10 guy.

3) Another legimate scoring threat from the blue linePetro could be that guy, but he needs to actually play to put up points. You don't win in this league without a significant amount of points from the blue line, and we need a Robin to Erik Johnson's Batman.

cprice12 wrote:1) A new coachFans tolerate Murray when we're winning...and I'm one of them...but his act wears thin real quick when the team is struggling. The crap he pulls with benching young players for a sub-par game, but giving a free pass to veterans like Brewer, Tkachuk, etc...doesn't make sense. Petro needs to play, period. The defense isn't good enough for Murray to be putting a young and talented player in the press box 90% of the time just because he is young.And I absolutely can't stand how we have completely different line combos every single night. How are guys supposed to get in any kind of rhythm when they have different line mates every other shift?Who should we get to replace Murray? Pat Burns...Wayne Gretzky...Ron Francis?How about Burns as head coach and Gretzky and Francis as assistant coaches? Ohhhh.....

2) A "top 10 in the league" scoring threatWe have a lot of good young players who will put up good offensive numbers, but we don't have that potent offensive player night in and night out. Boyes is as close as we have, and he's way too streaky to be a top 10 guy.

3) Another legimate scoring threat from the blue linePetro could be that guy, but he needs to actually play to put up points. You don't win in this league without a significant amount of points from the blue line, and we need a Robin to Erik Johnson's Batman.

Well said Curt.

One thing to add though: its not new line combos every night. its EVERY SHIFT. One thing goes sour in a game and Murray is completely reshuffling the lines. In order to have chemistry, you have to play with someone more than three times sporadically in any given night.

Curt ftw. pretty much is it. Murray confuses the crap out of me, all the while pissing me offTime for some insane skill. Boyes needs to actually try out there. he is lazy as shit.more aggression, more hitting, try skating.Petro should be out there.

goon attack wrote:if they actually played like they cared, they could bond as a team and become a juggernaut. But they're pussies, so I won't expect that anytime soon.

This.

Last edited by ViPeRx007 on Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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cprice12 wrote:1) A new coachFans tolerate Murray when we're winning...and I'm one of them...but his act wears thin real quick when the team is struggling.

really enlightening Curt.

COACHINGIn seriousness, I agree. When a coach has the talent and the team isn't winning, it falls on the coach. Granted, that we "have the talent" can definitely be disputed but its not like we got AHL'ers playing on the 3rd and 4th lines like we did in 05-06. From the time Murray has taken over till now, the Blues have been nothing but one been streaky team and this season is showing that doesn't look to be changing any time soon and I have GOT to believe that's not all the players. It can't be.

SCORERSCall me crazy, this actually doesn't bother me. While the Blues may not have a highlight-reel guy out there that produces "night in and night out," what the Blues don't have in a marquee player they make up for with depth. We got more than a handful of guys that can put in at least 20 a year. Feel free to disagree

DEFENSENever thought I'd say this, you really notice when Brewer and Jackman aren't out there. During the Penguins game this was painfully obvious that we didn't have any steady dmen out there not freaking out half the time. I'm with you guys- give all the young guys the ice they want or can handle, and if the rewards don't fully flesh out this year... let 'em get used to playing alongside one another and next year tear it up. But its either let them play now or go through the pains later. Do it now.

I know I'm probably sounding like a broken record here, especially to the flashchat posse, but with tonight's Rangers game still in progress, Michael Del Zotto, who went 16 picks after Alex Pietrangelo, has 11 points in 11 + games on the young season. The Rangers have a very talented young team, something the Blues WOULD definitely have if Murray wasn't such a dipstick about how he handles the kids... something the Blues WOULD definitely have if a scorer who went down to injury was replaced by another scorer from Peoria instead of a goon who gets injured 4 seconds into his season or another goon who works 5 minutes a night and has no relevant purpose on this team other than to be the token "dude from St. Louis who the fans can get behind".

cprice12 wrote:1) A new coachFans tolerate Murray when we're winning...and I'm one of them...but his act wears thin real quick when the team is struggling.

really enlightening Curt.

COACHINGIn seriousness, I agree. When a coach has the talent and the team isn't winning, it falls on the coach. Granted, that we "have the talent" can definitely be disputed but its not like we got AHL'ers playing on the 3rd and 4th lines like we did in 05-06. From the time Murray has taken over till now, the Blues have been nothing but one been streaky team and this season is showing that doesn't look to be changing any time soon and I have GOT to believe that's not all the players. It can't be.

SCORERSCall me crazy, this actually doesn't bother me. While the Blues may not have a highlight-reel guy out there that produces "night in and night out," what the Blues don't have in a marquee player they make up for with depth. We got more than a handful of guys that can put in at least 20 a year. Feel free to disagree

DEFENSENever thought I'd say this, you really notice when Brewer and Jackman aren't out there. During the Penguins game this was painfully obvious that we didn't have any steady dmen out there not freaking out half the time. I'm with you guys- give all the young guys the ice they want or can handle, and if the rewards don't fully flesh out this year... let 'em get used to playing alongside one another and next year tear it up. But its either let them play now or go through the pains later. Do it now.

Let's answer this question in the context of realistic things that could happen. We're not going to find, draft, trade for, etc. an Alex Ovechkin type of player. We had our chance to pick a top offensive threat in 2006 and it just so happened that EJ was the best available talent... sandwiched between Ovechkin (2004), Crosby (2005), Kane (2007), Stamkos (2008) and Tavares (2009). Blues lose again.

But I digress. The actual things that could happen are Murray being let go for someone who will make sense behind the bench every once in a while, for all the reasons written so far in this thread, and 60 minutes of effort every night. IMO it's especially inexcusable at this point in the season, when the Blues purposefully (to avoid Cardinal baseball) have games that are relatively few and far between (in comparison to torrid January-March stretches).

I think it's pretty clear that this team is a talented team offensively, even without a superstar forward. But Murray doesn't play to that strength.

When you put Oshie on the 4th line with Cam Janssen, there is something messed up in Murray's head. Putting an extremely talented offensive player with a player who has no offensive talent whatsoever, is mindboggling.

To be fair, Ohio, no one is going to draft an Alex Ovechkin type player because Alex Ovechkin is, bar none, the best player in the game. Leaps and bounds, or at the very least a leap, ahead of Crosby and Malkin.

glen a richter wrote:To be fair, Ohio, no one is going to draft an Alex Ovechkin type player because Alex Ovechkin is, bar none, the best player in the game. Leaps and bounds, or at the very least a leap, ahead of Crosby and Malkin.

In an alternate universe, the Blues would draft Alex Ovechkin.

But I was really just talking about a Top 10 scoring threat. Kind of stupid to talk about the Top 1 in that case huh